The CSKT Bison Range (BR) is a nature reserve on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana established for the conservation of American bison. Formerly called the National Bison Range, the size of the bison herd at the BR is 350 adult bison and welcomes between 50-60 calves per year. Established as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1908, the BR consists of approximately within the Montana valley and foothill grasslands. The management was transferred back to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in 2022 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after more than a century of federal management and nearly two decades of negotiations.
The BR has a visitor center, and two scenic roads that allow vehicular access to prime viewing areas. The range is approximately one hour north of Missoula, Montana, off of U.S. Highway 93 directing visitors to the entrance at Moiese, Montana, and the range headquarters.
Context
The range protects one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America, the intermountain bunchgrass prairie. This diverse ecosystem includes grasslands, Douglas fir and ponderosa pine forests, riparian areas and ponds. In addition to the 350 to 500 bison, many other mammal species may be seen on the refuge, including coyote, black bear, elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, mountain cottontail, Columbian ground squirrel, muskrat, yellow-pine chipmunk, badger, and cougar. Over two hundred bird species have been seen on the refuge. The Bison Range also contains many plant species, including the bitterroot, ponderosa pine, and buffalo grass.
Prior to the 1800s, bison were believed to number in the tens of millions, they once were found in all the current U.S. states, except Hawaii, and also throughout Canada. Bison were nearly extinct by 1890, having been part of a Federal government sponsored program of eradication during the Indian Wars, thereby removing a vital food source from the Plains Indians diet, and ensuring easier relocation onto Indian reservations. Bison play an important role in Native culture which includes a deep spiritual connection.
Early role in conservation
Oral accounts of the tribes recall a man of the Pend d’Oreille tribe named Atatice who knew something needed to be done as the buffalo disappeared. Atatice’s son Latati, or Little Peregrine Falcon, eventually led six orphan bison west to the Flathead Reservation. His stepfather, Samuel Walking Coyote, sold them to horse traders Michel Pablo and Charles Allard in 1884. The Pablo-Allard herd grew to about 300 when in 1896 Allard died and his half of the herd was sold to Charles E. Conrad of Kalispell by his widow. Pablo’s herd continued to grow and range wild along the Flathead River. By the early 1900s, the Pablo-Allard herd was said to be the largest collection of the bison remaining in the U.S. Pablo was notified in 1904 that the government was opening up the Flathead Reservation for settlement by selling off parcels of land. After failed negotiations with the U.S. government, Pablo sold the herd to the Canadian government in 1907. The transfer took until 1912, as the bison were captured and shipped by train from Ravalli, to Elk Island to establish a conservation herd.